ESPN Insider: Metric FIxes for Three Teams

Interesting article from Espn (insider) that asks several coaches how they'll address their team's most obvious statistical deficiencies.
Subscription required, but I'll quote the parts about St Johns...

"Question for St. John's coach Steve Lavin: Why did you take so many 2-point jumpers last season?

Q: Coach Lavin, as you know, a 2-point jumper tends to be less productive for a team's offense than either a shot at the rim or a 3-point attempt. Basically, you'll miss more of those jumpers inside the arc than you will shots at the rim, but they're also worth less than shots from farther away -- pretty bad deal all the way around, right? Given that, why did your team attempt so many 2-point jumpers last season? St. John's ranked No. 1 among major-conference teams nationally in that category. How come?

Steve Lavin: Well, it's a little like what Coach [John] Wooden used to say. The best situation is to have talent plus experience -- but if you can't have both, you definitely want talent with no experience instead of experience with no talent.

I've thought of that quote over the last couple seasons. We've been fortunate enough to have good success in our recruiting, but for a variety of reasons the level of experience on the floor still hasn't matched our level of talent. For instance, when we recruited Mo Harkless, we expected we'd have him for two seasons and then he'd be a lottery pick. Instead it only took him one season to convince the NBA to take him at No. 15. Which was great for him, and at the same time, we also knew that meant opponents last season would really jam DeAngelo Harrison.

That's exactly what happened. Opponents covered DeAngelo from the moment he got off the bus and put him under great duress. Then he was suspended for the last six games of the season. And what does that team look like last year if Orlando Sanchez plays? So there are a lot of factors driving the numbers that you're talking about.

This season, we're finally to the point where we feel like we're three-deep at just about every position. The numbers that you're looking at? They're going to change but it's not like we're going to be doing anything so very different. It will be because we finally have some balance, including a perimeter attack.

Q: About that perimeter attack, I thought you might say the number of 2-point jumpers your guys shot last season was a function of how mightily your team struggled from beyond the arc. You made just 25 percent of your 3s in Big East play.

A: Right. DeAngelo pretty much had a green light from out there, but that was an exception. I never told the rest of the team don't shoot the ball, of course, but I did say let's make this a paint game. We talked about "don't settle" all the time, meaning don't settle for jump shots. But, again, we were the third- or fourth-youngest team in the country.

Q: Do you think your young team could have benefited from trying to create a few more looks at the rim? Some of the jumpers we're talking about came early in the shot clock.

A: Unfortunately, finishing at the rim was a challenge for our guys, and so was perimeter shooting, as you've indicated. Numbers aren't going to drive or dictate everything you do, but they sure are a reflection of the strengths and weaknesses of your team. That's what you saw with us last year."

http://insider.espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/9820547/college-basketball-metrics-fixes-st-johns-south-carolina-wisconsin